Carpet tile



Sept. 17, 1968` R. G. I EvrrcH CARPET TILE Filed March 20, 1964 mvENToR: ROBERT G. LEVITCH ATTY.

United States Patent O 3,402,094 CARPET TILE Robert G. Levitch, Lexington, Va., assignor to Burlington Industries, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 211,035,

July 19, 1962, now Patent No. 3,166,455, dated Jan. 19. 1965. This application Mar. 20, 1964, Ser.

8 Claims. (Cl. ll-44) This invention relates to the provision of an improved sectional carpet tile having a pile surface and a resilient back or underlay for each tile. More particularly the tiles are so fabricated that they may be installed in a semipermanent condition with a non-setting adhesive applied to the back of each tile. In the event that it is desired to relocate or replace the tiles, they may be readily removed from the door and repositioned.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 211,035 led July 19, 1962, now United States Letters Patent No. 3,166,455.

In recent years the purchasing public has shown considerable interest in the use of soft oor covering applied in squares or sections which give a wall to wall carpeting effect but which do not become a permanent part of a 4building structure. -In addition it has 4been found highly desirable for non-domestic installations such as schools, oices, auditoriums, etc. to be able to remove the carpet installation and to relocate it for the purpose f changing the decorative effect, changing the size of the room or simply to replace damaged or worn-out portions of the carpet surface. The now common use of removable partitions or sliding doors in classrooms, oflices and the like, to permit changes with regard to size and shape requires that the loor covering also be adaptable to such change in size, shape and decorating :motif of the installation. Heretofore this could only be accomplished by tearing up a Wall to wall installation which in many cases had no further value because of its particular size or shape.

The present invention also lends itself admirably to use in buildings such as schools which have arcuate walls for auditoriums and other rooms built in circular or semicircular shape.

The primary object of the invention therefore, is to provide a carpet tile or section capable of -being installed on a floor in such a manner that it will not slide on the floor but can 4be removed and re-installed in another location.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for producing an improved carpet tile having positive nonskid characteristics in addition to an adhesive resilient backing.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a removable carpet tile means for `binding the edges of the pile so that all fraying is positively prevented.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a carpet tile having non-rectangular shape and which blends into an overall t-ile pattern with pleasing effects.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved carpet tile having a dimensionally sta'ble primary and secondary backing.

Further objects will be apparent from the specication and drawings in which FIGURE l is a perspective of my improved c-arpet tile,

FIGURE 2 is a top view showing several of my improved tiles installed on a oor,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional detail as seen at 3 3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective with the various portions of the tile separated to show details of the convention, and

lFIGURE 5 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG- URE 3 of a modified form.

ICC

The invention comprises essentially the cutting of a geometric shape of pile fabric and applying by means of a partial cure a sponge or resilient backing to the fabric in such a way that the resilient backing extends slightly beyond the edges of the carpet per se. After a preliminary cure a sealing compound is applied around the edges of the fabric to eliminate the possibility of fraying of the pile and to insure a permanent seal or bind between the fab-ric section and the bacldngThe section is then dried and subjected to a second curing step whereupon a semi-tacky adhesive which does not set permanently is applied to the underside of the backing and a protective synthetic sheet material positioned over the backing to prevent undesired adhesion of the section until the section is ready for actual installation.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, my improved carpet tile or section comprises a series of pile projections 1t) which may be either cut or uncut but are shown as uncut for purposes of the present description. These pile projections in the case of a tufted fabric extend through a primary backing material 11 and formv rows of stitches 12 on the back of the primary material. A resilient pad or cushion 13 is adhesively secured to the back of the primary backing and stitches whereupon a secondary woven backing 14 is secured to the resilient cushion 13. All edges of the tile are serged at 15 and a binding rim or edge of latex or elastic material 16 is applied in and along each marginal edge of the backing materials 11, 13, and 14. A removable sheet 17 is then secured to the bottom of the secondary backing 14 by means of a readily separable adhesive 18.

It has been found in actual installation that dimensional stability in a carpet tile is of exceedingly great importance. Obviously, if it is impossible to maintain the predetermined geometrical shape of the tiles, proper itting on the floor without overlaps, bulges, or gaps cannot 'be achieved. The most satisfactory results have been found to be obtained with a tufted pile fabric in which the primary backing 11 is of a *glass material. A woven glass primary backing is completely impervious to temperature, humidity, or even actual moisture conditions. It is therefore completely dimensionally stable. 'I'he pad or cushion material is a high density foam 0r sponge rubber and the secondary backing material 14 is also a woven glass fabric. The serging 15 is desirably made with nylon thread or similar synthetic material so that `a completely non-rotting and nonseparable ground fabric is achieved. The marginal layer of latex 16 insures adequate sea-ling of the last row of pile projections and also lends a pleasing and tightly sealed condition to the joints between adjacent tiles.

It will be understood that other materials may be used for the pile as well as the secondary backing. For the purpose of heavy traic or hard usage such as schools, hospitals, or public buildings, synthetic pile material such as a nylon or acrylic fibers with the glass primary and secondary lbacking rigidly serged with a synthetic yarn around all peripheral edges gives a far superior product than any combination of materials or construction heretofore used. A woven pile fabric may be substituted `but here again it is desirable to use a ground fabric having maximum dimensional stability which is achieved with the use of a glass fabric. Glass fabrics are readily adaptable to the tufting operation whereas the ability to weave a ground fabric from glass at the same time the pile is formed presents serious problems that are not present in lthe case of a tufted fabric.

The cover sheet 17 is removably secured to the bottom of the tile by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive of the type sold on the market under the trade name of Dispersite by Naugatuck Chemical Corporation, Naugatuck, Conn. This material is an aqueous dispersion of reclaimed rubber and tackifying resins emulsitied in a water system with `a fatty acid and caustic. Likewise, yarn other than nylon may be used for the serging, but this material has adequate tensile strength and is not subject to deterioration such as mildew or rotting. Preferably a synthetic thread is to be used for the serging.

A modied form of a carpet tile is shown in FIGURE 5 which may be entirely satisfactory for certain installations even though it may have somewhat less dimensional stability than the fabric of FIGURE 3. In this embodiment the pile is formed of loop projections which may be in either a woven or a tufted construction, the latter being shown in the drawings.

A primary backing in this case comprises a nonwoven or felted sheet material 20a which may or may not include an open lmesh scrim 20b for added strength. The scrim 20h is needed to reinforce the sheet Z0 until such time as it is incorporated in the finished fabric. The sponge rubber pad 13 is the same as that shown in FIGURE 3, as are the latex filler 16 around the marginal edge, and the serging 15. The secondary backing 21 yin this case may he a Woven material of either natural or synthetic fibers such as jute, nylon, paper, polyethylene, polypropylene, or any combination thereof. The embodiment of FIGURE 5 has been found to be satisfactory for many installations and somewhat less expensive than the embodiment of FIG- URE 3. Each form, however, combines the several important features of the present invention, namely, a primary backing, a secondary backing, an intermediate resilient pad or layer of elastomeric material, separate serging threads around the peripheral edge of the tile and a peripheral latex upper margin deiining a matching edge.

Also, by way of Lfurther example, it will be understood that the primary as well as the secondary backing may be of uniform ribbon-like material described in Rhodes Patent 3,110,905, but in either case the glass or the synthetic material `for carpet tile backing provides unexpectedly beneficial results due to the fact that dimensions for tiles on the order of 18" square 'are much more critical than iioor coverings of the Wall to wall type or area rugs. It will be seen that differences on the order of a quarter to half an inch are not of serious consequence in a large room installation, whereas 1an overlap or a gap of even 1/8" in an 18 tile is intolerable.

iIt will thus be understood that I have provided a vastly improved carpet tile or section which has 'been found to be highly satisfactory under the most severe conditions.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. A carpet tile section comprising a resilient backing member, .a pile fabric member adhesively secured to said backing member, said backing member having a larger area than said fabric member forming a substantially uniform marginal edge on said backing member and extending completely around the pile fabric member, and a seal- 4 ing compound adhering to the top surface of the marginal edge and to the pile of the pile fabric section forming the perimetral edge thereof above the top surface of said marginal edge.

2. A carpet tile in accordance with claim 1 having at least one sheet of woven glass fibers secured to the backing member.

3. A carpet section in accordance with claim 1 in which the resilient backing member is sponge rubber.

4. A carpet tile in accordance with claim 3 in which the tile is serged around its entire periphery and underneath the sealing compound.

5. A carpet tile of geometrical configuration comprising a primary backing, a secondary backing, an elastic pad securely positioned between said primary :backing and said secondary backing, a series of stitches around the entire periphery of said primary and secondary backings securely anchoring said backings and said pad together, pile projections secured to said primary backing and extending upwardly therefrom producing a pile section thereon having an area less than that of said primary backing forming a substantially uniform marginal edge thereon extending around said pile section, and a sealing compound adhering to the top surface of the marginal edge of said primary backing and to the pile projection forming the perimetral edge of said pile section above the top surface of said primary backing.

6. A carpet tile in accordance with claim 5 in which at least one of the backings is a Woven glass fiber sheet.

7. A carpet tile in accordance with claim 5 having a detachable cover sheet secured to the bottom of the secondary backing by means of an aqueous dispersion of reclaimed rubber.

8. A carpet tile in accordance with claim 5 in which the primary backing sheet includes at least one layer of non- Woven material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,140,457 12/1938 Knowland et al 161-63 X 2,142,729 l/ 1939 Knowland et al 161-63 X 3,074,835 1/1963 Gordon 161--67 3,120,083 2/1964 Dahlberg et al. 161-149 X 3,230,134 l/l966 Studer 161--62 2,254,210 9/1941 Cunnington 161-149 X 2,753,597 7/ 1956 Bind et al 161--63 X FOREIGN PATENTS 852,638 2/1940 France.

ROBERT 1F. BURNETT, Primary Examiner.

W. A.. POWELL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CARPET TILE SECTION COMPRISING A RESILIENT BACKING 